Paris is the top city in the world for students for the second year running, followed by London and Singapore, according to the QS Best Student Cities index. The team behind the QS World University Rankings has compiled the index, which judges cities according to criteria including university rankings, student mix, quality of living and affordability.

Third ranking Singapore rose nine places from its 2012 position

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About Beckie SmithBeckie is a London-based journalist who reports on research policy and international education. She has a degree in Japanese from the University of Leeds and lived in Kyoto for a year. She is addicted to Spotify and can often be found debating feminism and politics or looking for London's best gin cocktails.

"A university experience is intrinsically influenced by the location, especially for international students"

“Singapore has been keen to build the city-state into a regional education hub”

Of the 30 countries featured in the top 50, the US had the most cities (7), followed by Australia (6), Canada (3) and the UK (3). Norway, New Zealand and Czech Republic appeared on the index for the first time, represented by Oslo (48), Auckland (18) and Prague (45) respectively.

This is the second year QS has released the index. Ben Sowter, head of research at QS said it “provides students with a complementary tool to the university-focused rankings”.

“After all, a university experience is intrinsically influenced by the location, especially for international students,” he added.

Despite London and Paris topping the list, Singapore was the rising star of the index improving its position by nine places compared to last year’s rankings.

“Singapore scored the maximum number of points for employability, meaning the country’s university graduates are extremely well reputed among employers,” said Sowter. “It also scored very highly for quality of living, gaining 89 out of 100, giving the city a unique edge as students are increasingly looking for a comfortable environment combined with good job prospects upon graduation. “

Dr Li Mingjiang, Associate Professor at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told The PIE News that the government has been keen to build the city-state into a regional education hub by encouraging foreign higher education institutions to set up facilities there.

“Generally speaking, students are attracted because of the fairly high quality of education at the three major universities including the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and the Singapore Management University,” he said.

“Some of the local private universities and subsidiaries of foreign institutions also offer highly specialised programmes that cater to the educational needs of foreign students. Many students like Singapore because of the multi-cultural social environment, lower tuition costs as compared to UK, US, and Australia, and vibrancy of the city and convenience of living.”

London scored just three points below Paris, but was the city with the most highly-ranked universities in the world

London scored just three points below Paris, but was the city with the most highly-ranked universities in the world.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “With our streets getting ever safer and the huge investments we’re making in transport and infrastructure, not to mention abundant green spaces and unrivalled nightlife, it’s no wonder London attracts such a high calibre of students from across the globe.”

Cities are judged on five key “pillars”, made up of 14 individual criteria: university rankings; student mix; quality of living, employer activity and affordability. Cities must have a population of over 250,000 and be home to at least two ranked institutions in the QS World University Rankings to be considered.

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